REWS An Interview with Shauna Tohill.
REWS is the fierce, high energy, alternative pop / rock band lead by Northern Irish songwriter Shauna Tohill.
Following the release of 4 hot singles including ’Birdsong’, ‘Monsters’, ‘Heart Is On Fire’ & ‘Today We’re Warriors’, REWS have released highly anticipated sophomore album ‘Warriors’. The album is REWS’ call to arms to unite, stand up, be strong and take life’s challenges head on using music as our binding force… it is a perfect sentiment in this time and the singles highlight what this new album is all about!*
I recently received the honor of being granted a one on one interview with REWS lead singer Shauna Tohill. Aside from being extremely down to earth, she was an absolute champion at navigating every single one of my interview questions to a “T.” She is multi-instrumental and I personally found her to be a blanket of positivity and inspiration, not only in these trying times, but for aspiring musicians inclusively as a whole. You can check out exactly what I mean in our interview below!
Roctavia: What gave you the inspiration for your band’s name & what does it mean?
Shauna Tohill: It was inspired by a surname ‘Reus’ which means the giant people. It was fitting as a wise man once told me a band becomes their name… and I wanted to create music that people might be inspired by and look up to.
Roctavia: How did REWS end up forming?
Shauna Tohill: It all began in an artist residency in Cirencester. I spent 4 months there writing new material for a rock project and Rews was born!
Roctavia: How many instruments do you play in total, and what gave you the desire to take on learning multiple instruments?
Shauna Tohill:Haha! I come from a musical family & being Irish, music is in the blood. I dabble with the drums and play mainly guitar, bass and piano. Would love to play cello one day.
Roctavia: Have you ever encountered any flack for being a “female musician” & do you have any reservations about that title if any?
Shauna Tohill: A little but it says more about the people who attack you than about the person they’re attacking. I am proud to be a woman – the issue arrives when people treat you differently for being a women and assume you’re not as capable as another human being purely because of your genitalia. I’d rather be called a musician, but I don’t mind celebrating and boasting about the fact that women rock too!
Roctavia: What message(s) would you like to relay to all the little girls out there who aspire to be a musician like you?
Shauna Tohill: To all little girls (and boys or non-binary people) out there, I urge you to follow your dreams, be true to yourself, work hard but take time to recoup and invest in good relationships in your life. Life is no bed of roses and the music industry in particular is a tough place to be but if you stay firm on who you are and keep grounded, you will find joy in all you do and strive for.
Roctavia: What inspires you most during your creative process?
Shauna Tohill:Mainly stories that people tell me, experiences that I’m going through and fun chord sequences! 🙂
Roctavia: What was the biggest drive behind your sophomore album? What message are you wanting it to get across most?
Shauna Tohill:The biggest drive was to help people feel part of a community & know that they’re not alone in this world! Music is a healer for the soul & my inspiration was to write honest songs about different troubles that we all go through and show people they can pull through anything that life throws at us whether its relationships, careers, studies, family & pandemics!
Roctavia: I hear that you’ve been majorly active with your online presence during the pandemic, what gave you the desire to maintain such a strong social media foothold?
Shauna Tohill:It’s been such a tough time for everyone and I felt that people needed a space to escape from reality for a while & inject a bit of positivity in such a dark time. So I did loads!! And it was amazing to connect with people in that way!
Roctavia: What has been your most memorable experience about being out on tour?
Shauna Tohill:Good question! Lots of memories! But probably the last tour with The Darkness – on our first night on the tour bus, we slept in and ended up on a journey to Birmingham as the bus needed to be fixed but we were due to play Nottingham… very stressful but we did manage to get back in time before soundcheck! We just needed to entertain ourselves in an industrial estate for the day! 🤣
Roctavia: Speaking of touring, if you could tour the US, what would your ideal first tour look like? Shauna Tohill:I’d love to tour with another artist across the US – ideally it would be with Foo Fighters! 🙂
Roctavia: I always love to end interviews by going out on a kind of fun & off the cuff note so if you could have any super power in the world, what would you choose & why?
Shauna Tohill:Haha! Love this! Probably would be to be able to communicate with all animals and life forms! Then you might know how they are experiencing life. I think it would really open up our minds to how we treat the earth.
You can check out the new album Warriors here.
Sources: * https://www.rewsmusic.com/about
 | Love & Rockets ~ Roctavia |
 |  |  |
